The word, root word, or affix ‘port’ comes from late Middle English: from Old French, from medieval Latin portalis ‘like a gate’, from Latin porta ‘door, gate’. Which is also connected to the Old French word portcullis which was a heavy, vertically closing gate typically found in medieval fortifications.
Portals are thus used as a sort of entry or access or egress point. From one side to another, you have to thread through the eye (portal) of the needle. A portal is a window to view the other side or see other things, much like a ‘web portal’ allows you to see other web ‘domains’ and search through the webs.
It’s not a mere coincidence that the operating software for many computers made by Microsoft is called ‘Windows’. Your screens, phone, television, and computer are both windows and mirrors that show you alternate visions of a stream of consciousness whether it’s a digital landscape or a simulated Phenakistiscope show of moving frames to give the illusion of continuity and movement.
Port Hole, on ships you’ll see that they have windows referred to as portholes. Things you can see in and out of. A window is a form of ‘door’ or ‘gate’ or ‘port’ that allows people to see.
Ports – there are many types of ports. To export is to take ‘out’ (ex) of a port, and to import is to take in (im) of a port. These are often used in shipping as well as trade and economies at scale.
Port of entry – Many countries, territories, and borders have ‘mouths’ as a port of entry to allow customs and follow a customary practice of formality in inviting people into the country, whether they are tourists or immigrants or asylum seekers. There is a formal process for inviting people to your ‘home’ country that is widely accepted in most civilized nations, although the process varies per custom and culture and laws.
From our personal biology, our mouths are one point of entry or port of entry into our body. As well as our breathing and intravenous injections and more. The point is our body is a sort of state or being that has many orifices and even unconventional (injections) entry points and exit points. So as a ‘port of entry’ is also defined as a ‘mouth’, in turn, the ‘mouth’ is also a ‘port of entry’.
Shipping ports – Ships port and carry imports and exports. They board and deboard, or embark and dis-embark. The cargo or ship’s manifest typically includes the crew as well as the items on board, this is for inspections which is a type of customs. As the ships dock, they give ‘berth’, and even onboard ships the crews quarters where they sleep are also called ‘berthing’, in a sense that’s where the crew ‘docks’ or ‘sleeps’.
It is to note that the idea of something being ‘important’ may relate to the idea of the word ‘import’. If you mess with or lose the imported goods, then your trade and livelihood goes sideways.
air ports – Air planes are also called ‘air busses’ as they chauffer people as the cargo from one port of entry to another.
carports– Carports are typically garages or parking lots to ‘dock’ your car. Parking on the side of a road doesn’t officially or formally count as a ‘port’ for some reason, but it is a place to ‘park’ or ‘dock’ your car.
A vehicle is arguably defined as a space ship that traverses space. Ships, airplanes, and cars, and space shuttles technically traverse across ‘space’ the spatial domain of our reality.
Roads are the sort of markers in the road and there are ‘rules for the road’ to allow safety traversing. These are customs and culture which have codified into law to allow a safe and fast egress of travelers. Even ships at sea have both local and international laws as well as rules to follow and abide by, requesting entry from the harbor master and more. Airplanes also follow airway laws and runway control as they take information and ping the air traffic controller.
All Roads have traffic and they interconnect all societies like a mesh network, whether by land, sea, or air. Traffic is often contemporarily referred to as a ‘blockage of cars’ but if you define it as the shipment or movement of vessels, then you can see how it applies to ‘trafficking’ and other terms we use in our lexicon.
If you want some esoteric thinking, look into how widely applicable the ideas of maritime law and navigating in the spatial 3D environment has arguable purchase affecting our modern systems and human autonomy.
Portland – There are lands named after being a port city or port harbor. They typically base their infrastructure and commerce on the idea of ports and exchange, to allow it to be a central hub of transportation or a way-station to be along the way to refuel and restock on provisions before making it to another stop or destination.
Arguably cities and gas stations or anyplace you could restock and refuel would become a ‘port’ of sorts, if we apply the loose explanation that cars are also space ships.
Ports are essentially a gate to enter a safe harbor or another place. That’s the major takeaway here. It has a long usage and application through many words.
As a side note
Worm holes and other sort of experimental thoughts are doors of perception. The theories stem from whether we can see beyond a wormhole into the rift of space or the void or abyss to the other side, or if we could explore and enter wormholes.
Also to include the idea of black holes, whether you can travel them or not.
Which many fictional, science fictional takes explore the possibilities as a narrated potential of what could be. Whether you see a Dr. Who show, Interstellar movie, a Warhammer 40k, Star wars, or Star Trek, or any of the many science fiction shows, movies, and books. Humans like exploring curiosity with a liberal freedom in fiction. In this sense, we can build some theoretical framework grounded in pure abstract thought of fiction rather than objective base reality, and allow the reality and experiments to sort of play ‘catch up’ to the many self-fulfilling theoretical fictions out there. The truth tends to rhyme with fiction, as reality is often stranger than fiction.
Epilogue;
This may or may not be something that you find interesting. Hopefully it helps you to re-evaluate the origins and etymology as well as the definitions and contemporary meaning of words.
The key is to be able to connect the dots on how words connect to other words, and how their meanings are shared. This includes words that sound the same but aren’t etymologically connected. You’ll come to find out that the universe or human condition likes puns. You may also come to find that ‘everything is connected to everything’, even if it takes many steps.
This is more or less just some musings and thoughts connecting many things to paint a picture of how interconnected our language is, whether you’re speaking Latin or old French, it all sorts of plays on each other from the lineage of it’s origins.
Hopefully you find that words mean things, and the specific word in question also has meaning for being used in the context. Giving a name to something is a powerful thing that embodies a destiny with it.
Hopefully this opens up your eyes to the magic of words.
Hence why I keep saying;
Words Mean Things
Words Mean Things 
Leave a comment